


Untitled Drabble #2

by writinginthedust



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 14:45:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15051446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writinginthedust/pseuds/writinginthedust
Summary: A little tumblr drabble I wrote for Father's Day 2017





	Untitled Drabble #2

She turned up, completely unexpected, one sunny Saturday morning outside his house. Her golden hair curled down past her shoulders – bare and freckled – past the straps of the sundress she was wearing. That wasn’t what he saw though. Not the Aurora tresses, not the smooth silky shoulders, nothing took his focus like the swollen belly protruding from underneath a floral pattern. 

Her hand rested gently on the swell as he took in her belly button, straining against the material. “He’s yours, Peeta,” she told him. And that was all it took.

***

Katniss was sat opposite him in his kitchen when he told her. He needed his best friend at this moment, needed her to make some sense of it all, needed her to tell him what he should be thinking and feeling. Her mouth was open as she stared at the table. He didn’t know if she knew but for the past fifteen minutes she’d been peeling at the label of the bottle in front of her.

“Say something,” he begged. “Please.” Normally her silence was a normal presence, something he welcomed but now he really needed her to speak. To fill the void with words.

“Are you going to marry her?”

“What?” Of all the things he thought she was going to say, that wasn’t on his list. “No! No, it’s not like that. It’s like - oh god.” And then his voice broke and his head was in his hands and his throat burned. This was not how it was meant to go. Not like this.

Fingers wrapped around his own and pulled his hand away. He quickly wiped away a tear from his cheek.

“Hey,” she said, her voice soft. “You’ve got this. You’re going to be an amazing dad.” Katniss’ smile was warm and he returned it, trying to ignore the fact it didn’t quite meet her eyes.

***

To say it was awkward was a massive understatement. He’d reintroduced Katniss and Glenda, or Glimmer, as per her new stage name and ignored the way Katniss rolled her eyes. There seemed to be a delicate balance that needed to be sought between his friend and the mother of his son and he moved between the both as though he were handling two boxers in a ring. _At least,_ he thought, _it was giving him some experience parenting._

Within twenty minutes of their meeting Glimmer announced the very thing that Peeta had wanted to bring up gently. Separately. She was moving into Peeta’s. They were going to be a family. They were going to bring up their little boy together.

Katniss had wished them well and excused herself to get a glass. When Peeta found her, she was standing by the kitchen sink, staring out at the backyard in silence. Her face gave nothing away and he took the easy option. He left as quickly as he came in.

***

Love was something that he thought he knew. But until that moment he realised he’d been dealing with love-lite. The moment his son was placed in his arms there was something within him that opened. This was something he hadn’t realised he’d been searching for until he found it. All the songs suddenly made sense. His chest hurt. Actually _hurt_ with how much he loved his son. It would have been too much if it wasn’t just enough.

He turned to Glenda, no _Glimmer,_ kissed her sweaty forehead and matched her tired, happy smile with one of his own. Tendrils of her blonde hair swept down her face and he’d never seen a woman so beautiful in his life.

“We’ll make this work,” he told her. “We’ll make this work.”

***

Lucas’ shrieks fill up the backyard and Peeta watched his son run around the grass, stark naked as the day he was born, chased by a grinning Katniss.

“Come back! It’s time for little boys to have their baths!”

“Noooo Katna!!! Nooooo!”

Despite his protests the toddler beamed from ear to ear, clearly delighted at the prospect of being caught by her. Peeta realised that he matched his son’s expression, a smile splitting his face from ear to ear. Nothing could ruin the moment. Nothing except the sudden huff behind him.

“Is she still here?”

His shoulders tensed as he turned, knowing this was the sore spot. Glim stood behind him, staring ahead at the garden scene. Her face held no expression but Peeta saw the twitch in her jaw, a familiar sight.

“She’s just helping get Lucas ready for his bath.”

“Well I’m here to do that.” She waved his Lucky Ducky book in the air. “I’m his _mother_ and I want to bathe my son.”

“Hey,” he lowered his voice, making it soft like he was cornering a wounded animal. “You are his mom, Katniss just wants to help.” He stepped towards her pushing his face into her golden hair, the golden hair that their son shared. “She doesn’t get to do this that often.”

“Yeah, well maybe she should have her _own children,”_ and with that Glimmer turned and walked back into the kitchen.

With a sigh Peeta turned and immediately bumped straight into Katniss.

“Um, I managed to catch him.” Lucas giggled and squealed, a naked little bundle of skin and rosy cheeks in her arms, his chubby hands grabbing at her braid. He looked at his dad with unabashed joy, almost daring him to remove him from Katniss’ grip.

For her part Katniss looked straight down at the ground, two red pinpricks on her cheeks and Peeta silently cursed, wondering how much she heard.

“Thanks,” he said. “For coming over and helping. You know we look forward to it.”

She shrugged and placed Lucas into his arms, giving the toddler a big kiss on his cheek before she went. “Anytime,” she tells him. But it was quiet and when she walked down the path she looked straight down at the ground.

***

Katniss stopped coming over so much on Sunday’s which broke both father and son’s hearts but Glimmer seemed to come more alive, more comfortable in her own skin. They became more comfortable as a family and the amount of people that stopped to comment on their gorgeous little blonde boy was ridiculous. Both mother and father beamed with pride and Glim even joked that they should enrol Lucas on a baby modelling course.

“Uh huh,” Peeta would say. “He’s far too young. Let’s wait until college and then he can make those Mellark genes work for him.”

Glim laughed and joked about making those Mellark genes work for her now. As well as family life they settled into a comfortable couple life as well, with everything it meant.

Still, there was something missing, something he couldn’t put his finger on, even as he lay there in bed with Glim’s blonde hair trailing over his bare chest. She slept soundly whilst he barely slept.

Every week that went past Peeta missed Katniss but she was keeping her distance. His invites for her to come around were being shot off with flimsy excuses and he didn’t know exactly what he’d done or said to drive her away. He’d apologised to her about Glim’s comment but she brushed it off saying it didn’t matter. At a complete loss, he spent as much time with Lucas and Glim as possible.

 ***

It was a random weekday night and they were shopping. Peeta pushing Lucas in his buggy as he swang his legs back and forth whilst Glim pushed the shopping cart. It was so banal, so domestic and there was no thought in Peeta’s mind that anything would go wrong.

“Glimmer?” A guy, tall and blonde and stacked had stopped in the aisle. “Hey, it is you! How you been?”

Her hands gripped the cart so hard her knuckles went white. “Good thanks. You?”

“Yeah great babe, great.” He looked her over, from top to bottom with an appraising eye. “You’re looking good. Real good. I’m back in the district by the way if you fancy hanging again?”

“I’m busy at the moment,” she tried to push the cart past the guy but he reached out a hand to halt it. “Well when you’re not busy. I’ll be here a while, I’m in between jobs, that thing with my uncle didn’t quite work out.”

Glimmer made a non-committal noise and tried to move the cart again but the stacked guy was clearly not having any of it. “Hey, what the fucks with the attitude? We were friendly before I left, real _friendly_ if I remember.”

He winked at her and that was enough for Peeta. Manoeuvring the buggy back around he walked straight up to the guy. “Can I help? It seems like you’re bothering my girlfriend.”

“Woah, woah!” he held his hands up. “Didn’t realise she was some dude’s girlfriend. I know where I’m not wanted.” He looked back at Glimmer. “In another life babe.” He then looked down at the buggy and snorted. “Or not.” And with that he moved off.

Peeta watched his back as he retreated off into the supermarket. “What douchebag was that?”

He looked back at Glimmer, her hands still painfully gripping the cart, her face pale and tight with anxiety. “Adam Cato. His name is Adam Cato.”

***

The first time they sat in the kitchen like this he’d tried to hide his tears from her. But this time there was no hiding it. First time round they were tears of worry. This time they were tears of something else. Something much worse.

It was after two weeks of Glimmer’s agitation and two weeks of Peeta’s digging that the breakthrough finally happened. They sat, facing each over the kitchen table, and through hysterical, agonised sobs it finally came out.

“It was at the same time I had a fling with you that I had a fling with him,” Glimmer had sobbed. “You and I weren’t serious, he and I weren’t serious and he’d already left the district when I realised I was pregnant.” Peeta just sat in stunned silence, waiting for the drop. “I wanted Lucas to be yours so badly but I knew, I knew-.” She had taken a shaky breath in, her hands tearing apart a tissue. “Lucas isn’t your biological son.” And then she had dropped her head to the table, heaving and moaning.

Peeta just stared at the wood. At his hands. At the top of Glimmer’s golden head. Somewhere on the ground his heart had smashed into pieces.

Now he sat, heart still in pieces at the kitchen table, but it was his turn to sob. Fat, wretched tears coursed down his face. At some point Katniss had moved to sit beside him, her arms wrapped around his shoulders as best she could, one hand stroking up through his hair.

“I’m so sorry Peeta. I’m so so sorry.” Her voice was distraught and she was rocking him like he was a child. “I’m so sorry,” and her voice dropped down to a whisper as she pressed her forehead against his neck, her mouth moving against his skin.

It was a while later, when he had stopped crying and could drink the tea she made, that he was able to speak.

“She still wants to be a family but I can’t do it. I can’t be with Glimmer anymore. But Lucas? I know he’s not my son but he’s my son. He’s as real to me as you are.”

Katniss leant forward, smiling at him, gripping onto his curled fingers. “He is your son, Peeta.” This time the smile met her eyes, all warmth and comfort. “Lucas is your son.”

***

It had been three months and although everything wasn’t great it was slowly becoming fine. They’d spoken like adults and Glimmer had stated that Peeta was Lucas’ daddy and that wasn’t going to change. She wanted Peeta to be Lucas’ father. That’s what she had lied to get all along. She wasn’t going to rock any boats now.

Glimmer had moved out into an apartment about ten minutes away, and between them both they worked out a schedule. Lucas, somehow, had managed to inherit Peeta’s sunshine disposition – the Power of Nurture, Katniss had called it – and seemed to be fine with the arrangement.

There was home with Mommy where he had a balcony and bright blue bedroom walls and there was home with Daddy where he had a jungle bedroom and a garden and he could run around every Sunday with determination written on his face that Katna wasn’t going to get him that week. And every week she did.

***

Every week she turned up to catch his squirmy, naked little boy. Every week she blew raspberry kisses on his chubby cheeks and every week they stuck him in the bath followed by a reading of Lucky Ducky.

One week Glimmer had stopped by after realising she’d forgotten to pack Lucas’ sleeping blanket. She saw Katniss and Lucas in the garden and Peeta braced himself, except this time there was no huff.

“She’s good with him,” she’d merely stated. “A natural. She really should have her own children.” That was it. No unkind words, no throwing verbal punches. Just a small smile and a glance directed his way and she was gone.

***

Nothing ever lasted. That was the way of it. In three short months, there had been four separate individuals crying round the table. The toddler was the least of the worries and his tears had mainly been over eating pureed carrot. The adults came with their own issues.

First Glimmer, then Peeta and now Katniss.

Months ago it felt like Peeta’s heart had fallen to the floor. Now, as he listened to his sobbing best friend, his stomach followed.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Katniss wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. “It was a stupid, _stupid,_ relationship. Not even a relationship. We went on like, five dates.”

There was no bottle of beer this time for her to rip labels off. She just gripped the mug in front of her. Pale knuckles clutching on for life.

“It was safe. It really was.” She choked out a laugh. “I’m such a fucking hypocrite. I judged Glimmer for getting knocked up and now here I am.” She glanced down at the ground. “I am literally barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen.” This statement was immediately followed by a fresh round of sobs.

A part of him was desperate to ask whether Gale, the guy she’d been on those dates with, knew and if he did, was he going to stick around. Before he could even think of a delicate way to voice it she’d answered.

“He doesn’t give a shit. He has a new ‘executive’ position in Two and can’t be seen with a penniless baby-mama. He told me he’d spent his entire childhood raising his siblings and he wasn’t ready to be a father. Well I’m not ready to be a mother, how’s that?”

Peeta gripped her hand in his, his thumb stroking back and forth against her skin watching as she sniffed through her red nose. He said nothing but just wanted to pour everything he felt, every ounce of support and love he had, into her body somehow.

Katniss’ breathing started to even out, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “I’m just going to have to do it alone.”

He frowned then. “No, you won’t. You’re not doing this alone.”

***

Peeta had been wrong about so many things in his life. Like the time he thought it was a good idea to get drunk and slide down the stairs on an ironing board at college. Like the time he rented out his spare room to his brother for a month. Like when she’d just given birth and he thought Glimmer was the most beautiful woman in the word.

He’d been wrong about all those things.

It had taken two days. Two days of cursing and ice chips and pushing. And finally, a decision made by the Doctor that the baby was just not coming out the way they wanted and so a caesarean had to be done.

Peeta had clutched Katniss’s hand and watched her pale face, teeth chattering, as the Doctors worked away behind the screen. He’d pressed her knuckles to his lips and reassured her that everything was fine, that soon they would be greeted by baby Everdeen who was clearly as stubborn as their mother. Katniss managed a shaky laugh and Peeta wiped at the tears that fell from the corners of her eyes.

Minutes later an incredibly impudent, frustrated baby cry swept through the room. Baby Everdeen had made their entrance. Correction, _she_ had made _her_ entrance. And she was glorious.

Later, Peeta sat in the chair next to Katniss’ hospital bed. Baby Diana in his arms, her soft downy black hair brushing against his skin. While Lucas had been a beefy baby, so blonde he looked bald and with big red apple cheeks, Diana was dark haired and olive skinned and so tiny Peeta felt like she would break. When she opened her eyes to peek at him, he saw they were the same silver as her mothers.

Those matching grey eyes were currently shut as Katniss slept. Her dark hair tight in her braid but with wisps coming loose about her face. And then he knew. He’d had it all wrong before, so wrong before. He’d never seen a woman so beautiful.

***

It was ridiculous. Kids parties were ridiculous. Katniss had decreed earlier on that they should be outlawed and Peeta was now inclined to agree.

Young children and sugar and excitement made for a dangerous combination and Glimmer had spent most of Lucas’ birthday party soothing him through over-excited tears or trying to feed him actual, proper food. Which resulted in more tears as he became distraught over having to eat a piece of cucumber.

“I managed to get him to eat some yoghurt at least,” she told Peeta. “Though he then managed to grab a slice of cake afterwards.” Glimmer cocked a teasing eyebrow at him.

Peeta chuckled. “Yeah. He was pretty determined on that one.” There had been a post-yoghurt moment where Lucas has wailed out, “Daddyyyyyyyyy!” and ran with his arms wide open to Peeta.

“No,” she joked. “Daddy is a soft touch.”

Peeta grinned at her. “It’s his birthday, what can I say? I like to spoil him on his birthday.”

“And will you be spoiling this one on her birthday?” Glimmer gestured down to his arm, where he was balancing Diana on his hip. He stroked her hair, trying to flatten it back down and she looked up at him, momentarily paused in her pursuit of stuffing her fist into her mouth. He grinned at her and her returning smile was so joyous. She waved her arms, bouncing in delight on his hip.

“Yeah I reckon.”

“I don’t think it will be long and then she’ll be calling you Dada.”

Peeta frowned. “It isn’t like that.”

“Isn’t it?” Glimmer looked at him, her head tilted to one side.

He shook his head.

“Well if it isn’t like that, then maybe you think about making it ‘like that.’" With a smile Glimmer was gone.

Peeta bent down and kissed the top of Diana’s head. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” He glanced around the garden to find Katniss and saw that she was surrounded by Lucas and a group of his friends staring at her as she blew bubbles. They looked at her like she hung the moon. Sensing she was being stared at she stopped and looked up across the garden at him.

Peeta took one of Diana’s fists in his hand and waved it at Katniss. “Say hi Mommy!” Katniss waved back and then they made eye contact. She looked down shyly before glancing back up.

He swallowed. He didn’t know what it was. Maybe it was her sundress flowing in the light breeze, maybe it was the slight blush on her face. Maybe it was the way that she didn’t care that his son was trying to use her like she was a climbing frame. Maybe it was because he liked the way it sounded when someone earlier called Katniss _Mrs. Mellark._ Maybe it was the way he liked Katniss’ blush then too.

***

It was after Glimmer had taken a sugar-crashed Lucas home, after all the children were gone and after Diana was soundly sleeping in her crib in the spare room that Peeta discovered, when Katniss blushed, it went all the way down.

She tasted like cake frosting and lemons from the lemonade she’d been drinking earlier and at first their kisses were hesitant, but then, with his hands in her loose hair and her naked breasts against his bare chest, it all seemed to melt away.

“I have a scar,” she told him. “Down below, from the C-section.”

He pulled back, breathing heavily. Her eyes looked downcast, skirting away from him.

“I have that dodgy knee scar from when I pretended I was Legolas,” he reminded her. “It’s really fucked up.”

She laughed. “Oh yeah, the ironing board. Yeah that really is fucked up.”

His hands cupped her face, his thumbs ghosting over her cheekbones. “I really like touching you.” Peeta bent forward and kissed her gently, on her slightly sunburnt nose. “I really like _you._ More than like. You know?”

“I know.”

***

It was five to seven in the morning and they’d both slept in. It was unlike them, Peeta with his baker’s hours and Katniss with her hunting pattern. But they’d gone out to dinner last night and had a good night so they were sleeping in.

With a sigh, his naked wife rolled over, wriggling her back into him. Peeta grinned, it had been a _really good_ night.

There was a crashing sound from downstairs and a faint, _‘uh oh,’_ that made both Katniss and Peeta open their eyes and sit up. “I’ll go,” Katniss moved off the bed and the sheet fell to the side.

Peeta took her in. Pregnancy suited her. And it wasn’t just a boob thing no matter what she said. Her face looked rounder, her skin glowed and everything just looked fuller. The boobs were just a plus. It wasn’t like he got to enjoy Katniss’ pregnant body when she was having Diana, back when they were in friend territory.

Dressing gown on she wandered downstairs. Lucas was over for the weekend and he and Diana seemed to be partners in crime. She looked up at her brother with nothing but love and once Lucas realised he had his own fan club he delighted in having her tag along. All in all, it made for some interesting mornings.

After a few minutes Katniss waddled back in. “C’mon, put some pants on.” She reached out and grabbed his hand. “Best get downstairs before they destroy the kitchen completely. Your children are making you breakfast.”


End file.
